Bin Laden thwarted in terrorism goals - U.S. official

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his second-in-command have been rendered ineffective by international anti-terrorist efforts, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said on Tuesday.

The comments by Dell Dailey, the State Department's counterterrorism coordinator, were among the Bush administration's most confident declarations of progress against bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al Zawahri.

Both men have nonetheless eluded a manhunt since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants in 2001.

Dailey predicted Barack Obama, who takes over as U.S. president from George W. Bush on Jan. 20, would seek broader and deeper international ties to fight terrorism.

Bin Laden and Zawahri, believed to be holed up in the remote Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, have been reduced to little more than a media operation, Dailey said in a breakfast meeting with reporters. But al Qaeda itself remains a threat owing to its regional affiliates and violent intentions.

"We see al Qaeda, in a centralized role, (as being) totally controlled," Dailey said.

"Bin Laden can't get an operational effort off the ground without it being detected ahead of time and being thwarted," he said. "Their ability to reach is nonexistent."

Dailey cited the 2006 disruption of a plot to bomb transatlantic passenger flights, which he said was detected in Pakistan and broken up in Britain, with continuous U.S. involvement.